Wednesday, 5 October 2016

Alyeskan Tales: Fool's Errand Part 3

Part Three of the Alyeskan Tales: Fool's Errand series.

Originally commissioned to retrieve an item from a ghost town in the Wulflands, the team have found itself betrayed after said item was stolen from them. Facing a crime lord's wrath unless they could get the item back the characters have been on the trial of the thief, though they have learnt that there are other interested parties also looking for the item.

Now the character's path leads them to the Bastion Peaks.

Act Three: At The Mountains of Trouble

The trial will lead the characters to the small mining town of Arran Crag, nestled amongst the foothills of the Bastion Peaks. Arran Crag is a rough and ready town, the salt mine being the main source of employment in the town. It is also a company town and law enforcement is handled by a company hired sheriff rather than the Royal Alyeskan Air Police, though the sheriff is more interested in making sure that the mine runs smoothly and tends to turn a blind eye to activities that don't disrupt the mining. Because of this the town gets frequented by sky pirates and criminals alike, making Arran Crag a sort of gateway to Broken Spires.

Both Karla and the Rival Crew passed through the town, a Streetwise roll at a -2 penatly (plus any Charisma modifiers) will confirm this as much. However finding anyone who knows the location of Broken Spires will take a Streetwise roll with a -4 penalty, even then the person will only give up the info if the players complete a job for them; retrieve some goods from a nearby cave.

The cave itself is a couple of miles outside of town and the characters can easily hire a truck to use, they'll need some form of vehicle to carry the goods back to town. The only problem is that the area surrounding the cave as recently been claimed by a pack of eight wolves led by a Pack Alpha (use the wolf stats from the SWD rulebook, Pack Alpha is a Dire Wolf and a Wild Card). Clearing out the wolves will make the job easier, but isn't required if the characters are smart and use a distraction to draw them away from the cave.

After returning to town with the goods they'll be given directions to Broken Spires, though the flight through the mountains will be difficult and hence a -4 penalty on any Piloting rolls. Enroute through the mountains the players will be attacked by a pack of Cloudhaunts, run this has an Extended Chase as the characters attempt to get clear of the creatures.

Appendix

Cargo planes are a common sight in the skies over Alyeska, presented below are the stats of a typical aircraft.